Water pipelines in our homes are ubiquitous and essential for obvious reasons. They’re the arteries and veins for your home, ensuring the proper functionality of all your household plumbing components. As essential as they are, they are also the least looked after part of the home for most. As long as the pipe’s expelling water that we need, we don’t bother to take a second glance at that sink, even if it’s draining slowly, or smells funny. We fail to realize that the water being expelled is consumed by us, directly or indirectly.

From an environmental point of view, contaminated water that can induce toxicity will eventually be reintroduced in someone’s water supply like any other water, or find another way of entering the body through the ecosystem. Therefore, supplied water has to be in a pristine state, or at least in a non-contaminated state.

Heavy metal contamination: Some common contaminants in household tap water include aluminum, ammonia, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chloramines, chromium and copper.

Our negligence-induced, deteriorating water infrastructure has caused 30 million Americans to drink contaminated water in the past that had mostly put people living in small rural areas, at risk of developing cancer, birth defects, and lead poisoning.

Studies have shown that more than 200 unregulated chemicals are found in tap water, in 45 American states. A great contributor to this contamination are specific reactions that introduce undesired compounds into the system, such as, a metal runoff from deteriorating and aging pipelines, along with chemicals added for water treatment which accelerate the deterioration of the water pipeline from the inside out. This introduces the constituents of the pipeline itself into the water, be it PVC or metal pipes. If its metal, we are at a greater risk, because if the amount of metals like lead in our body increases, it can cause toxicities in the body that can result in brain damage, renal failure, liver cirrhosis, tubular necrosis, hemorrhages and even death.

Microbial contamination: Apart from pipeline metal run-off, water quality can also be compromised with the accumulation of microbes or bacteria in the pipelining. Especially when the water is warm, not laced with disinfectants and contains the right amount of trace elements required by bacteria to proliferate, biofilms can be formed on the inside lining of your pipes. These bacteria can break off and flow along with the water, causing the water to taste or smell funny. In a high enough concentration and pathogenic species of bacteria, diseases like Cholera can easily occur.

Prevention

Both of these hazards can be eliminated completely with CaitCo Drainworks’ Nu-flo water line replacement technology. The pipe erosion is prevented by cleaning the pipe thoroughly by sandblasting the inside of the pipe and then exposing to liquid epoxy that coats the entire internal pipelining. This forms a permanent impermeable barrier between the pipe and water. The epoxy lining ensures that the water is safe to drink, keeping out any heavy metals that leach into drinking water, and can be applied to household pipes preventing leaks, slow drains and blockages.